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Archive

The Woodlark Folk Club, Lambley, 4/2/08

In contrast to my previous gig in a spacious room with tables and chairs this one took place in a basement with the audience crammed in along rows of seats. Another contrast was that this was more of a traditional folk crowd who enjoyed singing along to some of the choruses. It reminded me of one of my early performances in a folk club when the audience spontaneously started joining in on the repeated title line at the end the chorus of I've Got All I Need, which was lovely to hear. Chris Green from headliners Isambarde said he'd enjoyed my set and Tina Taylor, the Organiser said she particularly liked The Geese Fly Father than the Eagle.

The Carlton Club, Manchester, 24/1/08

It had been quite a while since I'd last played in Manchester and it was good to know from Tom Kerswell, the Organiser, that for my return gig I was playing at a venue holding 200 people. There were 3 other excellent acts playing on the night, God's Little Eskimo, Seamus McLoughlin and The Bee's Niece with my spot of 35 minutes ending up as the longest. The predominantly student-type audience seemed very attentive and appreciative and I had some good feedback afterwards with one of them telling me how much he related to my lyrics.

The Golden Fleece, Nottingham, 10/12/07

This was my third spot in 2007 at this venue and my last of the year. One or two people had come along especially to see me play and it felt good while I was performing.

I included Home From Home, which I've not played for a while, and that seemed to go down well. It's a feel-good country/bluegrass style song, inspired by the year I spent in the Forest of Bowland Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and of the nine songs of mine that have been featured on the radio so far, this one has received most airplays.

The singer-songwriter Jezz Hall told me afterwards that he'd enjoyed my gig and took an interest in my CDs. Home From Home is the opening track on my Between Two Worlds CD and on the recorded version I'm joined by Dave Howard, who played briefly with the Albion Band, on bass and mandolin, Jai Field on bass drum and tambourine and Simon Cohen on fiddle.

Folked Up At The Loft, Nottingham, 1/11/07

My first time at this venue, with a good sound system thanks to Curtis Whitefinger, the organiser. He said he'd played an mp3 of my Catch A Ride track through this system on a previous night and people had been asking afterwards who that was, so I was glad it had stirred some interest. By co-incidence, Simon of the brilliantly blended two guitar duo The Rosellys, who also played on the night, told me at the end of the gig how he'd enjoyed my set and had particularly liked Catch A Ride. For me, it's always been one that's fun to play and makes a good contrast to many of my more reflective songs. (A video of me playing it at The Fishpond is featured on my Myspace page.)

It was nice to receive some good feedback from quite a few members of the audience too, including fellow singer-songwriter Roshan Rai, so if you missed me this time watch out for when I next play just down the road there in Nottingham at the Golden Fleece again this coming December!

Bakewell Quaker Meeting House Re-Opening Celebration Concert, 6/10/07

This concert covered a wide spectrum of music: classical, jazz, indie and folk, representing the diversity of the local community who frequent the centre. For my spot, I decided to choose five of my songs that could be related to Quaker values. I've Got All I Need reflects the value of simplicity; The Ark Is Slowly Sinking relates our unsustainable and ultimately unfulfilling consumer society to global warming and emphasises the value of our fragile environment; Disparate Heroes represents the senselessness of war and how much less likely it is to occur when we know each other's story; Kiss It Better...Or Kiss It Goodbye focuses on a similar theme, if we don't try to heal old wounds everyone subsequently loses out; and The Geese Fly Farther Than The Eagle conveys the message that ironically the individual flourishes most not in competitive societies but in supportive communities.

My spot went down very well with many appreciative comments afterwards and it was particularly pleasing that I seemed to reach both heads and hearts with my songs over the evening.

Devonshire Arms Acoustic Club, 26/9/07

I really enjoyed performing on this night and in setting the scene beforehand for each song I was about to play. For those who had seen me at Belper there were other songs I hadn't played at that previous gig, such as Circle Of Stones. This song is open to interpretation. It begins by painting the picture of a far away stone circle and the long ago people who would make sacrifices there in the hope of a favourable future. The protaganist looks back to his youth when he would walk to the stone circle with his lover. But to make their way in the world they had to sacrifice their love. Now looking back he wonders whether his sacrifice, like that of his ancestors, had been futile, should he have followed his heart instead of his head? That's one interpretation, anyway...

Belper Folk Club, 18/9/07

This was a very good concert-style venue, with the chairs facing the stage arranged in rows and filled with a packed audience. My spot went down very well, with many asking after the show for details of my website and how to get to the Devonshire Arms where I'd announced I would be playing the following week. I was supporting Harvey Andrews, one of the most accomplished singer-songwriters on the folk scene, and he commented favourably on my performance when he followed me on stage. Altogether, a very encouraging and enjoyable night.

Worksworth Festival, 9/9/07

I'd played here in 2004 and been asked to return for another spot this year. It was good to see friends had come over from Sheffield to see me play, along with others from around the area who'd heard I was playing there. As with Moseley, it was lovely to play in the picturesque gardens of Babington House. There was a slight delay at the beginning while the PA was sorted and then I played my 30 minute spot. It was the first time I'd played standing up for about three years, when I'd decided sitting down seemed to give a more intimate feel. This time there weren't any suitable chairs available so I didn't have any option, but I began to realise as I played that being less restricted benefited my performance, so from now on I'm back to standing up!

The Golden Fleece, 3/9/07

After heading back from Moseley Folk Festival earlier in the day, I made a return visit to the Golden Fleece. Unfortunately, I hadn't realised when I took the booking that the local student population, who make up a sizeable chunk of the audience, were still not back at University after the summer break but nevertheless those that were there must have enjoyed it as most of them told me so at the end of the night and I've been re-booked to play there again in December before the students break up for Christmas!

Moseley Folk Festival, 2/9/07

I was asked about playing a half hour spot on the Bohemian Jukebox stage at Moseley Folk Festival, which I was very pleased to do, as I particularly like the choice of acts that are put on at Moseley and nothing beats playing in the open air for me, especially when it's in such beautiful surroundings as Moseley Park. It went down very well, with more people coming over to listen to me as my spot progressed. I also had some good feedback afterwards and one of the people who came up to me afterwards asked me if I'd be interested in playing at a festival she runs next year.

5th Nick Drake International Gathering

Tanworth-in-Arden Village Hall, 3/8/07 & St Mary Magdalene Church, 4/8/07

I was delighted to be back in Tanworth-in-Arden for this annual occasion and see so many friendly faces again. For the Friday night concert in the village hall, during my rendition of Nick's Thoughts Of Mary Jane I was accompanied by Peter Ozanne on bamboo flute. Despite only a brief rehearsal beforehand it seemed to work really well.

You can see a video of this one-off performance here.

Also from the village hall concert there's a video of my song Kincora.

Plus two videos from the concert in the church, my song The Ballad Of Lady Jane's Lover,

and my take on Nick's Joey.

Apparently, the video camera was on the wrong setting, which meant that the images were stretched vertically, so I look even more lanky than usual!

A photo from the village hall concert has been added to the gallery and one from the church concert is also included in the myspace photos.

Farnsfield Folk Club, Farnsfield, 30/5/07

This venue was new to me and had a good concert feel to it. I played two 40 minute sets and played one or two songs I'd not played for a while like Sticks And Stones, a song about how destructive school bullying can be and one of the first songs I wrote in the form of a narrative. It was the first time there for some of the audience too, who'd heard about me through friends. I was asked to do an extra encore at the end and decided to play Leonard Cohen's So Long, Marianne, which proved to be a good choice. As usual I got lots of good feedback after the show & the organisers said they'd invite me back for another spot next year.

The Moo, Fishpond Ballroom, Matlock Bath, 20/5/07

This was a shorter set than at Higham but I was glad to be invited to play on the Fishpond Ballroom stage again, where I've played several times before (see Fishpond photo in gallery), though those bright stage lights mean you can never see who you're playing to! It was also nice to be asked to play on Colette's birthday, who had organised the night along with fellow Murder City Sweetheart, Wraggy.

Crown Inn Acoustic Night, Higham, 26/4/07

This venue had been recommended to me by someone who's seen me play before and they suggested I go to the next one to do an open mic spot and also bring along some of my CDs as they wanted to buy one. After my open mic spot I was asked if I'd do a gig there.

It was an untypical one hour spot; I've played 2 sets of up to 45 minutes before but not continuously for an hour so it was good to try out a different format. A couple of people had mentioned to me before the gig that they'd prefer me to play all my own songs so I didn't include the odd interpretation like I usually do.

A fellow singer-songwriter, the excellent Andy Whittle, had recently said that listening to my Dovetales CD, one of the songs he particularly liked was Kincora. I'd never included that song in my set list before, so decided to try it out on the night and was glad I did. One woman shouted out, "Wonderful!" at the end of The Ballad of Lady Jane's Lover and promptly bought the CD it was on, Between Two Worlds, at the end of the gig.

So at the end of the night I'd performed quite a few songs from each of my 3 CDs, along with one of my more recent songs Here Today, which seemed to work well, and was glad to receive some good feedback from members of the audience and the organisers before heading home.

The Golden Fleece, Nottingham, 8/1/07

I had a good time at my first gig in Nottingham. I enjoyed chatting to some of the people there, the Organiser said he particularly liked The Geese Fly Farther Than The Eagle and is going to recommend me to another venue in the vicinity and a member of a well known Celtic band said he'd try to get me a support for one of their gigs.

Wire'n'Wood, Nags Head, Butterley Hill, Ripley, 29/11/06

My return visit to this venue went down well and I ended up playing an extra 2 songs before I left the stage. I enjoyed chatting to quite a few of the people there afterwards. One person said he particularly enjoyed Rainbow In The Rain and The Geese Fly Farther Than The Eagle from my Dovetales and Between Two Worlds CDs respectively and asked me which one I'd recommend. I always find that a hard question to answer as I've had good feedback from all 3 but in the end he said he'd buy Dovetales this time and Between Two Worlds when he saw me again.

Wire'n'Wood, Nags Head, Butterley Hill, Ripley, 25/10/06

I had a good night at this acoustic venue, meeting other musicians and doing a 20 minute spot supporting Nigel Mazlyn Jones who I was very impressed by. My set went down well and I've been booked for a longer spot as a main act on 29/11/06.

The Fishpond, Matlock, 18/10/06

This was a more intimate gig in the bar rather than the ballroom but still fun to play. (Gallery photo 12 was taken at a previous gig on the ballroom stage.) A video of Catch A Ride was recorded on a photo camera and it's now featured on www.myspace.com/markathertonmusic under the 'my videos' section.

I included my interpretation of Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now in the set list. It's always been a favourite and one I feel I could have written myself in the sense that I share the sentiments. I came up with a guitar accompaniment I was pleased with a few years ago and it went down well when I tried it out at a gig so it's one of the very few covers I do from time to time.

Compering Keith James & Rick Foot performing the songs of Nick Drake, the Fishpond, Matlock, 6/10/06

The organiser of this event had said he would have given me the support spot for this concert if that slot had not been taken up by the film to be shown and asked me if I'd like to be the MC for the evening instead. I'd never done that before, whenever I'd organised any benefit concerts I'd always asked someone else to be the MC but I said I'd give it a go. I'm glad I did, I'd met keith before and he was pleased it was me and the organiser said afterwards he thought my voice came over well through a mic.

An edited version of the Fruit Tree DVD, which according to Keith will be available towards the end of 2006 and I'm featured in, was shown in the first half and includes footage from the 4th Annual Nick Drake International Fan Gathering Tribute concerts at Tanworth-in-Arden . Keith told the audience that the film would never have been made if it wasn't for me telling him when he last played at the Fishpond in 2003 about plans for the first gathering, as that's how he became aware of them and was finally able to get involved this year.

South Yorkshire Folk Concerts, Holly Bush Inn, Sheffield, 27/9/06

I had a great night at the Holly Bush, the venue wasn't as big as expected but I still had lots of good feedback and interest in my CDs. The organiser is also putting me in touch with some other venue organisers so it was certainly worthwhile. On top of that, I got to meet up with 3 fellow Nick Drake devotees again, the gifted artist James Newman Gray and the excellent duo Allan & Liam Wilkinson. For a while it was almost like being back at TIA! (see Gallery photo 6)

Western Hotel, St Ives, 16 & 17/8/06

It was great to be back in St Ives, which has almost become an annual pilgrimage for me. The last time I played there it had been at a Songwriters Night in the Harbour Bar. This year I played at the open mic spot on the 16th and then an invited spot with the resident band in the larger room on the 17th. I had no idea how my songs would go down in that setting and there was quite a lot of noise earlier on but they quietened down when I started playing. Quite a few people came up to me afterwards and said how much they'd enjoyed what I did and one woman said she could have listened to me all night, so it turned out very enjoyable in the end.

4th Nick Drake International Fan Gathering

Tanworth-in-Arden Village Hall, 28/7/06 & St Mary Magdelen Church, 29/7/06

It's wonderful to see how these gatherings have flourished since I originally got involved in setting up the first one in 2003. There's a certain atmosphere created when we all get together you don't find anywhere else. This year for the village hall concert James Edge joined me on flute for my song Chasing The Shadows. I'd sent him an mp3 of this song, the title track from my first CD, which he used to transcibe the flute part I'd come up with when arranging the song. We had a quick run through beforehand on the night and it was great to be able to play it as I'd originally envisaged it once more. My interpretation of the Nick Drake song Blossom, which can be viewed on the video page, was also featured in this performance.

I played my interpretation of Nick's Way To Blue for the first time in the church concert. I thought it would be interesting to work out a guitar arrangement for this song, as there's no record of what Nick originally would have played, and managed to come up with something that seemed to work well. One or two people said afterwards they liked my version and one woman said she thought the quality of my voice was the closest to Nick's of anyone she'd ever heard, so that was nice to hear.

I featured a new song in the church performance as well, Something In Your Song, which will be on the next album. I thought it was particularly relevant to the event as although it wasn't about Nick, it was partly inspired by experiences at Tanworth-in-Arden and so would never have been written if it wasn't for Nick. I did think at the end of my performance, with not yet being that familiar with the song, I probably didn't do it justice so it was very reassuring when a few people came up to me afterwards and said they found it a very moving song and one woman said it almost made her cry, so I must have managed to convey the feelings in the song well enough after all. (see gallery photo 1)

Meeting with Ralph McTell, 26/7/06

I recently met Ralph McTell after one of his gigs. Ralph no longer meets the public after gigs so it was great to have the chance of a chat with him. I told him about how he had a big influence on me in my early days (see biography) and about this new website for my music. We also talked about a song I had heard him sing at a gig some years ago, "Small Voice Calling", which I had been very impressed by. The song had originally been a B-side around the time of the "Not Till Tomorrow" album but has never been made available on CD. He was surprised I could remember the song and said a live recording existed which he hoped might make it onto CD at some point. He came across as very friendly and easy to talk to and in excellent form on the night.

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